Brand Build Guide by Dragon20217

Introduction

Welcome summoners to another guide by yours truly :).
Brand is the only champion I use mid with, He has a great burst Damage and a great ult that can Damage nearly all the enemy team and provide a great Aoe burst time which can contribute to a team fight greatly. The best thing about Brand is when he starts to get kills hes going to start dealing major damage. The only thing that really gets in the way of getting kills is Brand's cooldown which is why I provided a second build to hopefully solve that issue

Journey to Flaming Brand and Thanks :)

It great to see anyone's build do well, and that how i feel about my build. I spend about 6 days improving this build and getting advice from my fellow Mobafire community, thanks all for making this Happen...

Who is Brand?

Burning Lore
In a faraway place known as Lokfar there was a seafaring marauder called Kegan Rodhe. As was his people's way, Kegan sailed far and wide with his fellows, stealing treasures from those unlucky enough to catch their attention. To some, he was a monster; to others, just a man. One night, as they sailed through the arctic waters, strange lights danced over the frozen wastes. There was something hypnotic about them; it was something that drew them to it like moths to a flame. Trekking across the frozen waste, they came to a cave covered in ancient runes. The meaning of the runes long lost to them, Kegan led the way inside. There, inside a perfect cage of ice floated a dancing column of flame. There was no way such a thing should be burning, especially not in this place. However, its movement was as hypnotic as a siren's song, captivating and seductive. While the others stayed back, Kegan could not help but approach it while holding out his hand...

That is the last thing Kegan Rodhe remembers, for now his body belongs to Brand. It is a creature of olden times, perhaps even a casualty of the Rune Wars. It is known in ancient texts as the Burning Vengeance. It is a creature of pure fiery hate that exists for no other reason than to lay waste the world of men and yordles. No one is quite sure how Brand found his way to Valoran, but he began his predations at once. Overcome by Demacian forces, he was given a choice: fight within the confines of the League or die. Naturally, he chose to use his destructive powers in the League, for now...

"This place will burn, not by cinder flying or breath of wind, but by the vengeance of my hand." -Brand


Champion Spotlight

Fire / Water (pros/Cons)

spaaaaaaace

Pros + Powerful Burst + Powerful AOE + Useful in team fights + One cc (skill shot) + Face roller + Epic Voice

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Cons - Squishy - Focused often in team fight - Cool downs keep from getting kills - Can be mana Dependent if abusive w/ skills - Accused of not needing skills to play - water scares him

Masteries

Masteries

4/4

2/2

4/4

1/1

1/1

3/3

1/1

4/4

1/1

1/1

3/3

1/1

3/3

1/1

Sorcery

Butcher

Blast

Destruction

Arcane Knowledge

Mental Force

Spellsword

Archmage

Executioner

Summoner's Insight

Scout

Expanded Mind

Runic Affinity

Runes

Runes
Greater Mark of Magic Penetration 9	Greater Seal of Mana Regeneration 9	Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist 9	Greater Quintessence of Ability Power 3

• Greater Mark of Magic Penetration: Magic Pen useful for Brand's skills
  
• Greater Seal of Replenishment: Brand is mana dependent, if your not careful he could be mana starved this rune will hopefully maintain your mana pool
  
• Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist: The magic resist per level will help since your going up against an Ap caster
  
• Greater Quintessence of Ability Power: Flat Ap, very useful

Summoner Spells

Ignite: Spell for finishing off enemies, effective for reducing healing effects on the target

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Flash: For escaping dirty situations

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Teleport: Useful for getting around

Brand's Fiery tools

• Blaze: Every skill sets your target ablaze, when using your skill on a target ablaze it will have a enhanced affect
  
• Sear (Q): Brand launches a fireball at an enemy, if the target is ablaze it will stun them
  
• Pillar of Flame (W): after a small delay Brand creates a Pillar of flames in a target area, units ablaze take 25% more damage.
  
• Conflagration (E): Brand conjures a powerful blast at his target. If the target is ablaze it will damage nearby enemies
  
• Pyroclasm (R): Brand unleashes a torrent of fire that bounces between enemies, if a champion is ablaze the next bounce will prioritize. It will bounce up to 4 times for a total of 5 hits, and can hit the same enemy 3 times

Brand's Fiery tools order explained

Ability Sequence
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18

> > >

Pillar of Flame

Conflagration

Pillar of Flame

Conflagration

Sear

Items

Item Sequence
Sorcerer's Shoes 1100	Rylai's Crystal Scepter 2900	Liandry's Torment 2900	Rabadon's Deathcap 3300	Void Staff 2295	Zhonya's Hourglass 3410

• : Take this item, so that your spells deal extreame damage
  
• : Great health, and decent amount of Ap with a really useful passive that slows enemies with your spells.
  
• :Ap, and Health to sustain Brand with a passive that damages enemies over time.
  
• : Lots of Ap, need i say more?
  
• : Insane Ap with armor, and Unique passive that puts Brand in a Stasis for 2.5 seconds, a necessary mechanism for protection from hard focus.
  
• : The Extra Magic pen will be very useful

CDR Build

Item Sequence
Sorcerer's Shoes 1100	Rylai's Crystal Scepter 2900	Deathfire Grasp 3100	Athene's Unholy Grail 2600	Rabadon's Deathcap 3300	Void Staff 2295

• : Nothing new with this item, pick it up for the Magic Pen
  
• : Rushing Rylai's is really effective early game, +500 Health, +80 Ap, and your spells will slow your enemies by 35% for 1.5 seconds really useful.
  
• : Reason for the build is the Cool down ruduction, unfortunately Brand suffers from High cool downs, which can harm his chances of getting clean kills. The extra 15% CDR, 80+ Ap, and Unique Active is certainly nothing to ignore
  
• : +90AP, 40 Magic resist, 15 Mana regen, and 15% CDR makes it real useful on Brand Better the Morrello's evil tome
  
• : Unfortunately I grab Death cap second to last is because, this build is focused mainly on CDR which is why I get deathcap second to last.
  
• : Void Staff is a late game item, not many people get this early on.

Optional Items

• : This item is really good for decreasing an enemies magic Resist, plus the +70 Ap comes in really handy
  
• : Insane Ap, and CDR.
  
• : 40 Ability Power, 60 Armor, 15 Cooldown Reduction, 500 Mana. UNIQUE Passive: Spellblade: After using an ability, your next basic attack deals bonus physical damage equal to 125% of your base attack damage to surrounding enemies and creates a field for 2 seconds that slows enemies inside by 30% (2 second cooldown).
  
• : Ap, CDR. And Mana Regen
  
• : Popular item
  
• : 50 Ability Power, 10 Cooldown Reduction, 10 Mana Regeneration. UNIQUE Passive: +20% Spell Vamp. UNIQUE Passive: Butcher: Damage dealt to neutral monsters increased by 25%.
  
• : 40 Ability Power, 40 Magic Resistance, 6 Movement Speed Multiplier. UNIQUE Active: Hunt - Summons up to 2 invulnerable ghosts for 6 seconds to seek the two nearest enemy champions. If they touch an enemy champion, they slow his Movement Speed by 40% and reveal him for 2.5 seconds. 120 second cooldown.
  
• : Ap, and aura of spell vamps

Brand's Enemies Part 1/6

This section will be based on who will Brand face in mid and all the possibility, I will not go in depth with all these mid champs that brand could face it'll take too long.
Common

• Burst type
• Two of her skills are skill shot. Orb of Deception, and Charm
• Has great mobility
• Has a light CC ( Charm). Can escape using Spirit Rush
• Can become a real threat when fed (as most champs)
• Squishy

• Burst type
• Squishy
• Gap close ulti Shadow Dance
• Ability to become stealth Twilight Shroud
• A slow i.e Twilight Shroud
• Real dangerous when fed
  
  • Burst type
  • CC skill shot Flash Frost
  • Can be saved by her passive which transforms her into an egg upon reaching 0 (passive has cool down) Rebirth
  • very short cool down on ult
  • Aoe ult Glacial Storm
  • A skill that can save allies and trap enemies Crystallize
  • Can farm well with Aoe ult, and Q Flash Frost
  • Can be a major threat when fed
    
    • Burst type
    • If using her Q as the killing blow on either minion or champ, Mana is refunded Disintegrate
    • Shield that increase her armor and magic resist for short duration Molten Shield
    • Next skill (except shield) becomes a cc stun after casting 4 skills Pyromania
    • Ult is burst and summons a pet Summon: Tibbers
      
      • Burst type
      • If target is ablaze next skill cast upon targets ablaze will have a bonus effect
      • Great skill combo
      • CC skill shot if target is ablaze Sear
      • Squishy
      • can be mana starved if mana abusive
      • Bouncing Ult Pyroclasm
      • Can face roll (don't know what it means yet :-)
        
        • Ability to spam her skills
        • Good skill combo
        • Squishy
        • Aoe cc Ult Petrifying Gaze
        • Powerful poison skills
        • Can farm really well
        • Major threat when fed
          
        • Her Q hurts A lot
        • Shield skill which can refresh upon contact with enemy (refreshes times)
        • CC skill which pulls enemies closer to her and slows them
        • Short cool down on ult
        • Q and ult make dangerous combo
        • Squishy
        • Doesn't need to be fed to be dangerous

Brand's Enemies part 2/6

• Dangerous early game
• Ability to avoid certain skills with his Q Playful / Trickster
• Aoe ult Chum the Waters
• Really powerful
• Can drop your health bar toe less then half in a frame of 5-7 seconds
• Squishy
  
  • Pretty much counters Mid in general
  • Passive makes him a scary tank
  • Tank
  • Aoe Ult Idol of Durand
  • Skill that can increase ally movement speed Righteous Gust
  • can be mana starved early game
    
    • Can be tanky
    • Burst type
    • Aoe ult Explosive Cask
    • Can farm effectively
    • Can escape Body Slam
    • Can lane longer with his skill Drunken Rage
      
      • Can hold his lane effective with his H-28G Evolution Turret
      • Hextech Micro-Rockets Can cause some serious Damage
      • CC with this skill -> CH-1 Concussion Grenade if in direct contact
      • Can heal turrets with his passive Techmaturgical Repair Bots
      • Squishy
      • Is quite annoying to lane against
        
        • Squishy
        • Can casts spells after death
        • Global ult Requiem
        • has a slow Wall of Pain
        • Can spam skill Lay Waste
        • Mana starved if spamming skills too much
        • Aoe skill which can deal major damage and farm well with it Defile

Brand's Enemies part 3/6

• Powerful Mid game champion
• Can escape with Riftwalk
• Can burst you down with only one skill Null Sphere
• very dangerous when fed
• damn near impossible to kill without cc
  
  • No mana
  • can sting early game
  • blink skill Shunpo
  • can do major damage to three enemy champs with Death Lotus
  • Squishy
    
    • Energy based champ
    • Aoe ult Slicing Maelstrom
    • Can stun anyone in the Ult ^
    • Can escape effectively with Lighting Rush
    • Squishy
    • Can perform skill combo to stun you with Mark of the Storm
      
      (so fcking annoying)
      • Annoying
      • Powerful skill combo
      • deadly to lane if not careful
      • Can escape with a few blink skills and her passive Mirror Image
      • tricky to kill
      • squishy
        
        • CC Light Binding
        • Slow Lucent Singularity
        • Long range ult Finales Funkeln
        • Powerful mid lane
        • Can be well effective in team fights
        • squishy

Brand's Enemies part 4/6

• has a silence Call of the Void
• Aoe skill Null Zone
• Malefic Visions can bounce of dead minions onto a next minion useful farming tool
• can suppress with Nether Grasp
• Squishy
• can summon a voidling Summon Voidling
• Not really all that effective in team fightss
• deadly mid lane
• best in 1v1 fight
  
  • can create a shield with his skills thanks to his passive Iron Man
  • Doesn't need to be fed to be deadly
  • Can farm effective
  • Ult is a damage over time Children of the Graves
  • shield is hard to take down
  • can be somewhat tanky
    
    • cc Dark Binding
    • Can farm well with Tormented Soil
    • Can stun up to three with Soul Shackles
    • Squishy
      
      • Strong mid lane
      • Has ball that can protect allies, cause major damage, or Cause slows/speed ups
      • Aoe ult Command: Shockwave which can cause major damage
      • Really effective in team fights

Brand's Enemies part 5/6

• CC Nevermove
• skills are damage over time
• Has great sustain with ult Ravenous Flock
• Can be a problem when fed
  
  • Grants global gold. extra +2 gold per kill
  • Can build AD or Ap
  • Pick A Card has three out come effects depending on which card is drawn (I summon Blue eyes white dragon in ATK mode
  • Global ult that reveals all enemy champs including steal Destiny
  • While Destiny is active Twisted Fate Can teleport with Gate
  • Ganks are very random and effective
  • Can turn a 1v1 into a 2v1 in an instance
    ]
    
    • Can increase AP if Baleful Strike is the killing blow
    • Can cause major damage with Dark Matter
    • Aoe CC Event Horizon
    • Can increase Ap well
    • Squishy
    • Baleful Strike is spammable but consumes an unfortunate amount of mana
    • Dangerous Mid laner
      
      • Buggy skill Death Ray (sometimes)
      • Slow turned to a cc if in it too long Gravity Field
      • Aoe ult Chaos Storm
      • Somewhat dangerous mid lane
      • most damage is out of Day Ray

Brand's Enemies part 6/6

• HOT!
• CC Grasping Roots
• strong AOE ult Stranglethorns
• Rampent Growth can be combined with Deadly Bloom and Grasping Roots to spawn plants that will attack minions/champs useful for farming
• Can ward with Rampent Growth
  
  • The more mana/tanky the more damage output
  • CC Rune Prison
  • Cam farm with Spell Flux
  • Proper skill combos can very deadly
  • Ult enhances skills to be Aoe skills

Brand's Less common Enemies

Less Common

• Passive reduces Magic resist Dread
• CC Terrify
• great sustain in Lane with Drain
• Has a silence... Dark Wind Can silence each target it hits
• AOE ult Crowstorm which can deal major damage
• Squishy
• Can be a problem when fed
  
  • Yeah hes pretty effective
  • Yi has high healings when hes Ap yi Mediate
  • Alpha Strike actually hurts with Ap yi
  • Can sustain longer in lane with Ap yi
    
    • Can stealth in no movement with Camouflage
    • Blinding Dart blinds target and hurts a lot, based on Ap
    • Move Quick mini Ghost
    • Toxic Shot applies poison in every basic attack, useful for last hitting
    • Noxious Trap act as wards and can damage/ slows enemies who step on it, if used very effectively can isolate a lane
    • Squishy
      
      • Tanky Ap
      • Can restore lost health with Transfusion
      • can farm well with Tides of Blood
      • Ult is really effective during team fights Hemoplague
      • untargetable with Sanguine Pool
      • effective in top and mid lane
        
        • High armor with passive Ascended Form
        • Ap Artillery
        • Powerful skill shot Arcanopulse
        • Locus of Power Makes gim an Artillery
        • Mage Chains combined with his ult Arcane Barrage or Arcanopulse will stun target
        • Locus of Power + Arcane Barrage = Powerful long range ult
        • Under used

What should Brand do in team fights?

Brand's Job is simple, you wanna nuke down the Ap, and adc. As you are a high damage dealer, you want to kill the enemy ap, and adc it is your job, with your burst combo

> > >

Pillar of Flame

Pyroclasm

Areas that should be on fire (warded)

- Sight Ward will give you an advantage of where the enemy team is hiding, ganking, or doing Baron Nashor or Dragon

Ward Here to protect your jungler

Ward Here to protect yourself, depending on which lane you're on

Ward Here to guard Baron and Dragone

Ward Here to Counter jungles

Summary

Brand is a fun champion to play as, but requires some skills to play, but he can be effective during team fights if placed in the right position, but you would always want to be behind a tank or in a safe distance just enough so that your skills will hit. Brand is the only champion I love to use in mid, who knows he might be yours to. Oh and tell me how i can improve my guide, your help is very appreciative. Happy burning
- Brand

Credits

http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/build/making-a-guide-101506

Change Log

*9/9/12*
-Published Guide
-Added a "who is Brand" section
-Added a "optional item" section
-Added a "warding" section
-9/10/12*
-Added a "credits" section
-Added a "brand's enemies" section
-Changed item purchase order
9/12/12
- Finished "Brand's Enemies" section
- Removed Rod of Ages after discussions w/ people I have come to realize that Rod of Ages is not a good item on Brand
9/14/12
-Added Zhonya's Hour glass to the Purchase order
-Removed Morello's evil thome and Added Athene's in its place (CDR build)
3/1/13
-Added title strips to sections